Automotive fuel tubes (also called fuel lines or fuel pipes) often extend considerable distances over the length of a vehicle to deliver gasoline, diesel or related fuel to the engine. Ends of these fuel tubes are often joined to adjacent axially-aligned body-side connection floor tubes that receive fuel from the vehicle-mounted storage tank. Given the lengthy nature of the tubes used in a vehicular fuel delivery system, such joining of these modular segments is preferable in that it improves system handling and overall manufacturability. In one form, the joining is often through the use of quick connectors that are in turn secured in place by one or more housing-like clamps that can be mounted or otherwise secured to an adjacent part on the underside of the vehicle. These conventional clamps have channels formed on their inner surface that are sized to snugly receive the fuel tube and floor tube ends, while the quick connector acts as the intermediate structure between the tubes and the inner surface of the clamp, as well as a fluidly-tight connection between a fuel tube and its respective floor tube. The quick connectors significantly improve tube assembly efficiency relative to configurations that require tools, separate fasteners or the like, while the clamps act as a protective enclosure against the ambient environment such as foreign object impact, exposure to road salt or other corrosive agents, or vibrations that are associated with the operation of a vehicle.
Because the number of mounting and routing locations within a vehicular environment are limited, it has become an accepted practice for the fuel tubes and their floor tube counterparts to have groups of two tubes be arranged in a laterally adjacent (i.e., side-by-side) assembly format. In one approach, these side-by-side tubes may include a first relatively high pressure line for delivery of the fuel from the fuel pump to the engine's fuel injector, and a second relatively low pressure return line back to the fuel tank for any excess fuel, vapor or both. Unfortunately, lengthwise manufacturing and assembly tolerances between these side-by-side tubing assemblies (especially as it relates to the floor tubes) frequently results in the length of one of the tubes differing from that of the other, even if only by a few millimeters. From a joining and attachment standpoint, this axial length difference makes it difficult to coax both of the side-by-side tubes together into the quick connectors and their respective close-tolerance channels formed in the clamp without applying an excessive amount of pulling or pushing force along the axial (i.e., thrust) direction. Such a scenario is unsatisfactory in that the additional force could lead to breakage of the joined tubes, as well as detract from the ergonomic assembly benefits that the quick connectors were designed to facilitate. This difficulty is compounded when attempts are made to attach the retaining clips, as an installer needs to be simultaneously holding two tubes and quick connectors in place while attempting to make a snap-fit connection between the retaining clips and the quick connectors. This connection may be made even more difficult in configurations where collars or related lateral projections in the floor tubes that are used to secure the tubes to an inner surface of the quick connector are present in that such collars tend to—when axially misaligned—form an obstruction to the snap-fit connection between the quick connector and the tube retaining clip.
Accordingly, a need exists for a clamp assembly that reconciles the competing objectives of improved manufacturing ergonomics and improved tube fluid-containment and structural integrity.